"Today, we have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organized crime syndicate allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country," the release said Wednesday.
The charged Defendants Include Alleged "Vor" or "Thief-In-Law" of a Russian and Georgian Criminal Enterprise.
"The dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organized crime syndicate allegedly include a murder-for-hire conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform [and] the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate," the release said.
Twenty seven of the defendants are associated with a nationwide racketeering enterprise led by Razhden Shulaya and Zurab Dzanashvili and two additional defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and with additional firearms offenses, the Justice Department said.
